Redick excited to return to Magic

Guard wondered whether Orlando would match Chicago's offer

So much for J.J. Redick receiving special treatment from the Orlando Magic now that the team will pay him $19 million over the next three years.

Fresh off of a honeymoon in Italy and Spain, Redick arrived at RDV Sportsplex on Monday eager to work out but found a bunch of teenagers hogging the basketball court.

"Unfortunately for me, they had this camp going on," Redick said, a wry smile crossing his face. "I'm going to have to talk to somebody about that."

Yes, Redick intended that comment as a joke.

Redick had plenty of reasons to be in a good mood Monday afternoon.

These last few weeks have brought momentous, but welcome, changes in his life.

On June 26, he married Chelsea Kilgore. In subsequent days, Redick and his agent successfully navigated the NBA's free-agency period, with Redick ending up in the place he wanted to be all along.

Yet even Redick wondered at times whether the Magic would match the offer sheet he signed with the Chicago Bulls.

He estimated that his "gut feeling changed about seven times during that week."

I think it's flattering that the Bulls gave me the contract that they did and it's even more flattering that the Magic matched," Redick said.

Bulls officials made it clear to Redick that he would have a chance to crack their starting lineup at the shooting-guard spot, but Redick insists he hasn't received a similar promise from Magic officials.

"The way I look at it, we have Vince Carter," Redick said.

"Vince has caught some flak. He still put up good numbers. He's not the player he was when he was 25 — I don't think he would argue that — but he's a really good shooting guard, and I've learned a lot from him in just a year and I'm looking forward to going at him again in practice for the next year."

Carter, however, might not return to Orlando after this upcoming season. Carter's contract includes a team option for the 2011-12 season, which means that the Magic could decide to part ways with Carter.

Right now, Redick and the Magic have more pressing issues to deal with, most notably the new-look Miami Heat.

Dwyane Wade now will play alongside fellow stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Those moves have changed the dynamic in the Eastern Conference — at least on paper.

And Redick acknowledges there's a buzz among his teammates about Miami.

"I can't really repeat to you guys what we've been saying, kind of some of the words that have been going around," Redick told reporters.

"But we feel like we're one of the teams to beat in the NBA, one of the teams to beat in the East. It's going to be highly competitive when we play them. It always is. It's going to be more so this year."

That's yet another more reason why Redick's happy to be back in Orlando.